Review of Maybe This Time

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When I went to BookCon this year, I wasn’t on the lookout for the newest Kasie West book. In fact, I had only glimpsed at the synopsis maybe once before. But when I saw Maybe This Time displayed for the taking, I couldn’t help but snag a copy for myself, and I’m so glad I did!

I also just want to give a shoutout to the beautiful cover and overall design of the book. I loved how thoroughly the flower theme was incorporated, and although I read an ARC, I’ve seen the finished copy in person and it is a thing of beauty!

But I’m going to be honest when I say that I didn’t have the highest expectations for Maybe This Time. While I really enjoyed Kasie West’s earlier books, her most recent ones have mostly disappointed me. But I was hopeful that this book would break that streak of disappointments. And it certainly did!

This book follows Sophie, an aspiring fashion designer, who works for the town’s florist and is therefore involved in all the big events taking place throughout the year. Unfortunately for her, this means lots of interactions with Andrew Hart, the son of a celebrity chef that’s come to her town for just one year to help cater events. The two don’t get off to a great start, and they only have 9 events to change things between them.

 

The premise had me really hooked, and I really liked how it was executed! The book is split into 9 parts, each centering around an event and the flowers that Sophie uses at said event. I thought it was really clever because it focuses the story well, but still allows for a well-paced story that flows nicely. I found it really impressive how easily you were able to follow the story, even when some time had passed between events. There was never an issue of info-dumping to get you up to speed!

This story is obviously all about the characters and their interactions, and I had so much fun reading about everyone. To start with I loved seeing Andrew and Sophie’s banter and watching their relationship progress through its ups and downs. And the side characters were really great as well! Since it’s a small town, you meet recurring characters that pop up throughout events and it was a lot of fun to have them sprinkled in throughout the book. Sophie’s best friend Micah is a constant at all of these events and I loved her part in the story. I also appreciated how we got to see different sides of Sophie’s mother throughout that really helped showcase her character growth.

My one complaint is that I would have liked the romance to have started a little earlier, but I was happy with the friendship between these two, so it didn’t bother me too much.

Overall, this was a cute contemporary that I really enjoyed. I flew through this book and although it’s not my favorite Kasie West, I would still definitely recommend this one if you’re looking for something short and sweet.

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Do you tend to enjoy Kasie West’s books? Have you read this one? Do you want to? What are some other cute books you read recently?